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Continue reading →: Of Bonnie Scotland and her debts
I said I was afraid of how the separation of Scotland from the United Kingdom would be handled by our political leaders. Already the difficulties begin to become clear. As presented by the BBC and other leftish media yesterday, two things happened. Firstly, the money fairies expressed concern about the…
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Continue reading →: Some social (-networking) resolutions
I started The Last Ditch on March 15, 2005 to make serious points about the threat to liberty posed by a relentlessly-advancing British state. It is intended to be a modest contribution to public discourse and I fail when – as I have often done – I deviate from that…
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Continue reading →: 238 Years of Common Sense
On January 10, 1776 the great man whose name I misuse on this blog published his famous pamphlet, Common Sense. It had a powerful effect. General Washington had it distributed to his soldiers. I can imagine them reading it to themselves and to each other. George Trevelyan in his History…
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Continue reading →: Met PC’s political smear
BBC News – 'Plebgate' affair: Met PC admits misconduct. I hold no brief for the Conservative & Unionist Party, but I can't help feeling it has been mistreated by its fellow vile socialist front; the BBC. The Beeb pushed the 'plebgate' meme relentlessly. Its squadrons of Marxist comedians used it at enormous length to…
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Continue reading →: Some truth about police lies
BBC News – Some truth to claims over crime figures, says Met. Judging by Chief Inspector Tom Winsor's use of tenses in his remarks reported in the linked article, the Met still hasn't got around to talking to PC Patrick. You will recall PC Patrick was suspended from his work…
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Continue reading →: Down the rabbit hole
Stalking and Harassment: Legal Guidance: Crown Prosecution Service. I was thinking about the pervasive notion of "offensiveness" in modern Britain and pondering whether there was anything useful I could say about it. I am uncomfortable with the idea that causing offence should ever have any legal consequences. I grew…
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Continue reading →: Reflections on the passing of another year
I used to like New Year's Eve. I remember a party in the Welsh wilds many moons ago. I thought it had gone well, but the late Mrs P. disagreed. Apparently alcohol had somehow flushed my schoolboy Welsh from my memory's trash can and I spent much of the evening…
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Continue reading →: I wish you a Merry Christmas and a liberty-laden New Year
BBC News – Tweets to feminist campaigner Criado-Perez: Two charged. The Misses Paine and I are off to cruise the Norwegian fjords from tomorrow. Our access to the internet will be patchy. So let me take this – perhaps final – opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and a…
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Continue reading →: Who serves whom?
We don't call them police forces any more. That's too explicit an acknowledgement of their role as the enforcers of our all-powerful state. Policing, God help us, is now a 'service'. The question is; whom do our policemen serve? Is it us, the public, or the political class that guarantees…
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Continue reading →: Allies for a day
Mandela has been sanitised by hypocrites and apologists | Seumas Milne | Comment is free | The Guardian. I have been saddened by the hypocrisy of the British Establishment's celebrations of the life of the late President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela. I was horrified when, apparently on instructions from…
THE LAST DITCH
Your blogger
Tom is a retired international lawyer. He was a partner in a City of London law firm and spent almost twenty years abroad serving clients from all over the world.
Returning to London on retirement in 2011, he was dismayed to discover how much liberty had been lost in the UK while he was away.
He’s a classical liberal (libertarian, if you must) who, like his illustrious namesake, considers that
“…government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.”
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Almost. I think Archbishop Sarah is a Christian. I just think she’s at a loss to know how to reach…
It’s almost as if they are not actually Christian but simply a person being advised by woke PR people in…
She may be gone but you have all those wonderful memories :-)
I miss the more traditional Anglican services that I remember from my younger years. I haven’t regularly attended church services…
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The Last Ditch by Tom Paine 
I’m sure there are a few fire and brimstone types they could have had instead of a woke woman. Putting…